Mounjaro/Wegovy with >5 stone/30kg to lose - thread 11!

[MooBaggage]

New thread for anyone with more than 5 stone/30kg to lose. All very welcome, whichever part of the journey you are on.

We have newbies and those who have got to their targets and lots of us in between at various stages, all supporting each other along the way.

Nothing is off topic and progress photos always welcome, encouraging us all to keep going!

No discount codes please - there is a separate thread for that.

@Panama2 the only side effect I have ever got that bothers me is that I am pretty much permanently cold. This isnt purely a MJ thing though. I live somewhere its permanently wet and cold, I have pre existing health issues that screw with my temperature regulation anyway and I dont walk so cant keep myself warm walking. Because of the effect being cold has on my health issues I keep my house heated to 22 degrees (it's a new build and well insulated so not as £££ as it seems) and my heated blanket is my friend. DH and thr kids have taken to wearing shorts and t shirts all year around indoors!
Like you I dont have a gallbladder either . I've never had any issues with MJ and not having a gallbladder.

Thank you - did they say why? From what I can see the oral supplements can take a while to make a difference, hence injections / both to start with. But @WeAllHaveWings knows a lot more about it than I do. I am on a PPI which messes with B12’s availability from food so need a bit of help with it until I can hopefully get off the PPI 🤞

@WeAllHaveWings 130lbs WOW!

I’ve cut my Omepraxole from 20 to 10. First few days I felt the reflux a little but it has settled down now. So I think I’ll try doing as you and taking it every 36 hours and then every other day.

NSV bought 3 size 12 skirts in White Stuff. Short corduroy ones which show my legs. Size 12! Legs! Was so pleased, bought all 3 colours. The 10s even fitted but weren’t as comfy and didn’t look as good.

@ShrankLastWinter Yes, I felt it for a couple of days when I went to 36 hourly but it settled. I’m going to stick with that for another week and then try every 48 hours.

Love the sound of those skirts, I’m going to have a look now 👀

SW 126kg
CW 107kg
GW Too low to contemplate
Well done losers.
I am on 10 and its make or break time as really motivated to get under 100kg. I don’t track Kcal but need to start as have plateaued the last 3 months

@gimmemounjaro No idea why the B12 guidance has changed, we didn't get a chance to talk, it was just a passing comment so I'm not even sure if that is just at practice level, ICB level or NHS-wide. I did get a notification that there has been a new CKS addition about B12 deficiency associated with recreational nitrous oxide use which I have never heard of before
PPIs are interesting in that, years ago we had a spell of trying to deprescribe them but patients are notoriously unwilling to have medicine stopped, particularly when you may have to deal with some rebound symptoms and experience has shown it usually costs the NHS more in clinician time, tests, etc than it is worth for cheaper medicines. We did usually advise people to try to use them short term only but they often continued regardless

Interesting to hear some of you are thinking of reducing/coming off PPI’s. I have actually had to be moved onto a stronger one (esomeprazole) as my already severe acid reflux got much worse on Mounjaro.

I have an hiatus hernia and honestly think I would struggle to reduce or stop, some years ago when I was under a lot of stress I was waking several times a night choking on acid and it was even affecting my eyes and ears.

Oh @Evenstar that sounds horrible! I had a time when I would wake up unable to breathe, quite scary. But nothing like what you have been through. I guess the hernia doesn’t help.

That’s interesting re Omeprazole @QueenOfHiraeth- I didn’t realise until recently the downside of long term use of PPIs, the GP never mentioned anything and just kept prescribing them for years 😬

But now I know, I’m just seeing if I can reduce them at least. I was 6st+ heavier and not eating particularly well when they were prescribed so maybe things will be better now. I feel like Omeprazole, B12, Mounjaro and blood pressure might all be related, would love to be off all meds one day and self regulating again.

@Evenstar I'm the same re: having a hiatus hernia and not coming off meds - I take 1 x lanzopralol a day and sometimes 2 if it's bad. It hasn't changed since starting MJ but I'm just glad it keeps the heartburn away - except if I've had Cava/bubbly alcohol, like last night, when it was really bad..! 🙄

I'm doing well eating-wise on holiday - sticking to protein and just one course at each meal time - the choice and amount of food is mind boggling, but I'm resisting! I drank too much Cava last night - 4 x glasses when 2 or 3 was plenty. I wish I could say I will learn from this, but....🙄 Will try and have a max of 3 tonight.

On the plus side, I've been swimming tons, on and off throughout each day, which has been just lovely!

@gimmemounjaro @QueenOfHiraeth in my case, after 8 years of PPIs which are associated with B12 absorption problems, several clear neurological symptoms indicating potential B12/magnesium issues, already taking high dose oral B12, and a GP who either knew nothing about accurate B12 testing or was just not willing to do more tests my choices were limited to fighting it out with GP / surgery management or self management.

I was already taking high dose oral tablets and when I asked about these prior to the blood test my GP told me I didn't need to stop taking them, which I now know gives a false high result of total serum B12, they would not test for active B12 or MMA when I explained my history risk factors or symptoms. I was dismissed with "we all get niggles as we get older". I would have actively welcomed further tests to investigations to prove or disprove absorption problems.

For me the lack of support from my GP, Nice guidelines on B12, some reading on B12 and cofactors, knowing in many European countries you can just walk into a pharmacy and pick up B12 ampoules for self injection, and MJ experience of subcutaneous injections (I would never do them IM myself!) convinced me it was very low risk and worth a shot when my symptoms were impacting me and causing real concern, and there was no other options. My plan was to try and if I saw improvements I would continue until it stopped improving. There were improvements after just 2-3 weeks and many resolved now 5 months later. But I would urge anyone who is considering it to do their own research based on their own circumstances and symptoms as I only did it based on mine and my own attitude to risk.

Hopefully the letter to GPs only to give injections where "proven absorption problems" has been written to educate and encourage GPs to do the further investigations in the Nice guidelines, that I should have been offered, to get correct diagnosis and treatment rather than a cost cutting exercise as nurse administered B12 are an obvious burden on NHS resources. It is not because B12 injections have become riskier.

@WeAllHaveWings I suspect that it may be more related the costs as most things are now. I know when covid was approaching, we switched all our B12 patients to oral preparations as we would be unlikely to manage injections with distancing and I wonder if, maybe, very few patients had problems on them so it has been added as an easy option. I will ask when I next catch up with colleagues though

@Evenstar @MooBaggage PPIs are very safe and effective drugs. Like all medications it is a question of weighing risks vs benefits and for people with severe reflux it's perfectly safe to continue. The patients we tried to stop were those who had problems that were minor or may have settled with time anyway. We even found some who had only started them due to taking other meds which had since been stopped but they had carried on regardless!

It’s so tricky balancing risk / benefit, especially when several meds and related symptoms are involved - Omeprazole definitely changed my life for the better a few years ago, but now that I am eating better, have lost weight and given up smoking, I think it’s worth trying to come off them. Especially since they are now affecting B12 and I guess therefore maybe other things too. I have stopped falling asleep in the afternoons since I started supplementing B12 anyway, so that’s a win 🤩

Can I ask a silly question please? Lots of people talking about doing a certain amount of ‘clicks’ to get a customised dosage - I can’t figure out how to do that! I push it until it stops for the full dose, there are markers but I don’t feel it ‘click’ as such - do you just do it really, really slowly and count each line in the window?!

You seem to be describing when you actually inject the MJ (or I assume you are since you use the word 'push') . The clicks, and the opportunity to count them, happen before that: when you twist the pen to create the dose. Do it gently and you'll feel the individual clicks - 60 of them for a full dose.

You will be able to count the 2 clicks when you twist the pen to set up the right amount for priming.

Omepraxole was a game changer for me - it meant I could start exercising. I had awful reflux throughout my pregnancies and after the last one it didn’t go away. I gradually just stopped moving to try not to trigger it. Then with Omepraxole I was suddenly able to bend again. Now hopefully being so much thinner I’ll be ok without it, or on a much lower dose.

@bakingmad123 assuming you are taking Mounjaro (Wegovy will be different)

Every Mounjaro pen, regardless of mg strength, delivers a 0.6ml dose each time you inject. To do this you turn the dose knob from 0 to 1 in the window and you will hear 60 clicks. Then you press down to deliver the dose.

To deliver a half dose in mg only turn it 30 clicks to deliver 0.3ml.

30 clicks on a 5mg pen will give you 2.5mg etc. The maths is fairly straightforward.

Your provider will not support this way of dosing as it is higher risk due to potential for user error. There have been so many posts on here saying “Help I was injecting 2.5mg from my 10mg pen and forgot this week and turned it all the way to 1 as I was in a hurry so I’ve just jumped from 2.5mg to 10mg, will I die?…..”. To avoid this, if you choose to part dose always give yourself time to check and double check before injecting.

Also consider when using part doses, each dose will still build up for the first 4 weeks before levelling off, so don’t change doses up/down every week, be pragmatic, have a plan, and give any dose time to settle to see how it is working for you.

Hey just wanted to say I feel your pain. Started at 136 and now 100.5, also not really set a GW but think aiming 80kg.

Each land mark weigh seems to hover there. I stopped weighing this last week as can’t keep seeing the 3 digit weight and I am going to go on in faith without the scales this week.

Hi folks, happy Monday.

Remaining committed to checking in weekly even when I am annoyed! 😂😂

This morning I am showing only a loss of 0.3lbs, keeping me at 13st 0.6lbs.

However, I know this is not accurate. I had two events on the weekend, had to take Immodium to ensure I wasn’t in any digestive trouble and am not constipated 😂😂 I was on Friday a whopping five pounds down. So I will accept it will show next week! I’m also a week before my period and dehydrated over the weekend.

9mg did well for me this week, just a little kick up on getting rid of food noise, not the whole week, but longer than 8mg was giving! And no other unpleasant side effects.

My hairloss is the thing bugging me at the moment. I have lost a lot of hair the last three months, despite my losses slowing right down, I’ve only lost a few lbs over that time! Its thinned out drastically, and I didn’t have loads to start, and while I have a lot of new growth sprouting, it feels awful, and am always conscious of my scalp being on show around people taller than me (which is most cos I’m 5’3!!)

hope folks are well!!

So I have had my injection I don’t feel any different should I?

Sending positive, whooshy thoughts to everyone feeling frustrated! And I hope the hairloss settles down @Darlinghag . Mine seems to have stabilised at least.

Jab day, at 34 weeks, and I'm 1.5lbs down this week, with the scales still showing the same as they did the day after I got back. That's a good amount so I'm happy.

SW 17st 4
CW 12st 7.75
GW 11-12 st

I've only got one more dose left in my current and final pre-price-hike 10mg pen. I was hoping I'd start titrating down around now but I think I'm going to have to swallow one, maybe two more 10mg at the new cost and maybe start reducing my dose in January to both stretch things out and begin to titrate down.

Everyone's different. I felt an appetite reduction/feeling fuller after eating pretty much the same day but not everyone does and it takes a while for the medication to build in your system.

@Panama2 I didn't feel instantly different, but did notice a difference within the first few days - give it a while as everyone reacts differently. Hopefully you will start to feel an impact over this week!

@Darlinghag I feel your pain re: hair loss. My hair has always been super fine and not a lot of it anyway, probably due to other health stuff - and I've lost loads of hair since losing weight. I'm taking biotin which I think is helping and I tend to use a bit of dry shampoo to thicken it up, even if I don't need to - helps make it look like I've got slightly more hair!